1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to panels for artwork and display purposes, specifically to such panels that are produced using layers cut from a laminated wood blank.
2. Description of Prior Art
A wide variety of methods are commonly used for creating artwork. Artwork, in this patent application, refers to any article created for the purpose of visual display. Normally, materials that are highly consistent and dimensionally stable are chosen for artwork as they are relatively easy to work with. However, some materials exist that are not consistent or dimensionally stable, but offer high esthetic value and hence, are highly valued for use in artwork. Specifically, wood offers a large variety of grain patterns, textures, and colors that are often desired for artwork. By its nature, however, wood changes its dimensions with variations in temperature and/or humidity and can warp, twist, check, or crack over time.
Consequently, a number of techniques have been developed that allow wooden artwork to be produced in spite of the problems associated with the nature of wood. To understand them, it is important to first better understand the nature of wood. Of course, wood is a natural product that is harvested from trees by cutting a growing tree into pieces. Wooden boards are cut along the length of a tree""s trunk so that the wooden fibers in a board generally extend along the length of the board. Changes in temperature and/or humidity cause the fibers to expand or contract significantly in their radial dimension, but only slightly along their length. Consequently, a common wooden board exposed to changes in temperature and/or humidity will significantly vary in thickness and width, but will vary only slightly in length.
It is also helpful to define end-grain and long-grain. End-grain is the pattern observed in a piece of wood when it is viewed from a surface displaying the ends of the wood""s fiber. Long-grain is the pattern observed in a piece of wood when it is viewed from a surface displaying the sides of the wood""s fiber. Direction is commonly associated with long-grain patterns and the grain is said to run in the direction of the wood""s fiber. Consider a common board, cut from a log taken from a tree, end-grain is visible on the ends of the board and long-grain runs along the length of the board and is visible on the top, bottom and side surfaces of the board. Of course, wooden pieces can be cut at odd angles to the dimensions of a tree""s trunk and wood fiber does not run perfectly straight in any piece of wood. However, end-grain is normally used to describe cases where the surface of a piece displays mainly the fiber ends and long-grain in cases where the surface of a piece displays mainly the fiber sides. Similarly, the long-grain is said to run in the direction that the fiber mainly points in, in aggregate, over the piece of wood under consideration.
A principal disadvantage of all prior art is that none of the presently available techniques for creating wooden artwork allow large areas of end-grain to be visible in a wood panel. For most methods, small areas are possible. However, problems with the differences in expansion and contraction of the dimensions of a wood piece across its end-grain versus its long-grain make construction with large areas of visible end-grain extremely difficult. In particular, it is very difficult to display more than a few inches of end-grain without incurring problems with warping or cracking.
Inlay is a common technique used to mix pieces of wood offering variety in color, texture, grain pattern, or other desired features. Inlay involves cutting a pattern into a first piece of wood or wooden article and then filling the pattern with a piece or multiple pieces of wood cut from other pieces of wood and bonding them into the cut pattern. The piece or pieces used to fill the cut pattern are said to be xe2x80x9cinlayedxe2x80x9d into the first piece. In addition to wood, metals, stone, or other materials can be inlayed into wooden pieces and wood can be inlayed into pieces made from other materials. In inlay, long-grain is normally inlayed into long-grain. It is possible to inlay end-grain into long-grain or vice versa. However, only very small end-grain pieces are possible as the differences in expansion/contraction of the pieces can easily result in cracking of either the inlay or the first piece. Inlay is a very well-know technique and has been used for hundreds of years. However, inlay is very time consuming and labor intensive and a high degree of skill is required to produce a quality result. Consequently, inlay is normally only suitable for expensive products that include little or no visible end-grain.
A second technique for creating wooden artwork is marquetry. Marquetry is a process for shaping thin layers of wood, veneers, into desired patterns and bonding them to a stable substrate that is normally, but not necessarily, also made of wood. Marquetry avoids problems with warping, cracking, etc. by using thin veneers that are strongly bonded to the substrate. Since the veneers are so thin, they cannot induce sufficient levels of stress to warp or crack the substrate or break the bonds between the veneer and the substrate. Consequently, neither the veneer nor the substrate crack and the completed piece is stable. The long-grain surface of the veneer is normally used. End-grain can be displayed only if the pieces are kept very small to avoid cracking. Most notably, end-grain patterns are sometimes used in this way to decorate classical guitars, usually around the sound holes and over the bridge. However, in all cases, the end-grain patterns have to be kept very small. Marquetry is also a very time consuming and labor intensive process that requires high skill levels. It is only suitable for relatively expensive pieces.
A third technique for creating wooden artwork into patterns is intarsia. Intarsia can be considered similar to marquetry in that wooden pieces are shaped to fit together and then are bonded to a substrate. However, with intarsia, the pieces are not normally thin veneers, but rather, are thicker pieces that are not only shaped to fit with each other, but are also textured and/or contoured to create desired effects. A completed intarsia piece is similar, in some sense, to a relief carving, but is made from multiple pieces that are contoured (or carved) prior to final assembly. As with inlay and marquetry, intarsia is difficult, time-consuming, and relatively expensive.
Of course, wooden pieces of various colors, textures, grain-patterns, etc., can be simply bonded together to form desired patterns. Normally, long-grain is bonded to long-grain in such pieces to avoid cracking, but very small patterns can be formed using some end-grain if stress is properly accounted for. As with the techniques above, such constructions are normally time-consuming and expensive if complex patterns are involved.
It is also common practice to create patterns with wood using carving, engraving, or contouring; or by painting or staining patterns onto the wooden surface. These techniques can be inexpensive and produce interesting patterns. However, the desired effects obtained from combining varieties of wood with different colors, textures, grain-patterns, etc. is not realized. It is also possible to combine the techniques described above. For example, an intarsia piece might have an additional pattern engraved into it. However, again, such combination of techniques does not solve the problem of the processes being expensive and time-consuming or provide a technique for allowing end-grain patterns to be provided.
The first aspect of this invention is for wooden panels formed by creating a blank made from pieces of wood bonded together with their long-grain surfaces bonded to the long-grain surfaces of other pieces making up the blank; and then cutting layers from an end of the blank to form multiple panels with an end-grain pattern visible on their face. A second aspect of this invention is combining metals, ceramics, plastics or other materials into the blank. A third aspect of this invention is to carve, cut, break, drill, bore, puncture, etch, engrave, paint, stain, inlay or otherwise make enhancing modifications to the panel before or after the layer has been cut. A fourth aspect of this invention is to frame, support, or mount the panel in such way as to avoid stress in the panel and reduce the likelihood of cracking it.
Several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
a) to provide a panel cut from a blank with an artistic pattern composed of the end-grain of multiple pieces of wood that is resistant to cracking and can be produced economically;
b) to provide a panel cut from a blank cut that is formed by bonding layers of wood on top of each other or around a center piece;
c) to provide a panel cut from a blank that is formed by bonding layers of wood to each other to form a larger blank, and singly or multiply cutting the resulting blank into sections and including a layer or layers between the cut sections before bonding them back together, and optionally bonding additional layers around the resulting blank;
d) to provide a panel cut from a blank that is formed by bonding layers of wood to each other to form a larger blank, and singly or multiply cutting or routing the larger blank and optionally filling the cuts or routed areas with materials, and optionally bonding additional layers around the resulting blank;
e) to provide a panel cut from a blank that is formed by bonding a multitude of smaller pieces together, whether or not the smaller pieces fit together precisely, to form a larger blank or subassembly for a blank;
f) to provide a panel cut from a blank where the blank includes layers of metal, ceramic, plastic, or other materials bonded with the wooden layers;
g) to provide a panel cut from a blank that is formed using a combination of the techniques described in items b) through f) above;
h) to provide a wooden panel cut from an end of a blank formed by bonding layers of wood and further engraving, drilling, carving, routing, painting, staining, etching, cutting, breaking, boring, puncturing, texturing, machining, countouring, inlaying, or otherwise making enhancing modifications to the panel before or after it is cut from the blank;
i) to provide a wooden panel cut from the end of a blank formed by bonding layers of wood and further reinforcing the panel before or after it is cut from the blank;
j) to provide a means for framing, mounting, or supporting the panel that does not impose significant levels of stress on the panel to minimize the possibility of cracking it.
k) to provide a means for mounting and supporting the panel that does not impose significant levels of stress on the panel to minimize the possibility of cracking it and allows for thinner and larger panels to be utilized than would otherwise be possible.